just a little, now -

remain in motion, child.
everytime you wake, you will find yourself running again,
so remain in motion.
swim through this
replete with tiny paper birds,
your body an origamic flicker on the sky,
crinkling in search of land,
but don’t look down.
Here, you must believe in flight in order to remain
aloft.
Better this way, kept away from the people you do not create,
the people who can hate and crack you
like a shelled being,
and you know you are not a strong crustacean,
more pea than wall
nutshell.
If you hear him moving beside you, beckoning you with promises of flesh
and the conscious comfort of his arms,
try the howl of denial.
If you fear his breath upon your skin, do not pay it heed, give it credit,
take it as no more than oxygen,
expulsed from his internal skies.
Pray as the light crawl limbed over you that he will love you,
that the melody of dreams will linger long enough to lure him onward,
inward,
asleep,
where an orange and pink laced overhead stays the same,
and swans can burn
or be left in your pocket





GLS
8.3.93